Technology can be a wonderful thing. We’re connected to the world via the Internet, we have mapped the human genome, we have explored beyond the confines of our planet and split the atom. It’s truly amazing. So why, oh why is there a three second delay between the news anchor in the studio and the reporter on the scene? I understand that the news feed needs to go through the satellite and get fed through God only knows how many devices. But still, this shit should be moving at the speed of light. I mean, isn’t that how fast this stuff moves? I can talk to the Emperor of Japan on the phone or have an instant messenger conversation with some dude in Australia or and it’s, you know... instant. But CNN can’t figure out how to beam a signal from New York to Atlanta without some fucking delay that causes the two people talking to start/stop pause, repeat and speak over each other.
Anchor: …and we have Steve Douglas reporting live from New York. Steve, what’s the mood where you’re at?
Steve: [looking into the camera for 3 seconds while he nods] John the mood here is euphoric, it seems
Both: Excuse me Steve – that New Yorkers.. Sorry. – Go Ahead – Go Ahead – Well, as I was saying – Steve? – it seems – Yes John? Go ahead – You say the mood is euphoric?
[both pause for 10 seconds of silence waiting for the other to start talking, they then start talking at the same time again. Rinse. Repeat.]
Jesus Christ that’s annoying.
I was watching the election results the other night and this kept happening. They can have real-time, up to the second polling data displayed on a 200 inch plasma jumbo-tron but they can’t synchronize their audio? Radio waves moves at the speed of light. That’s 299,792,458 miles per second—which is pretty damned fast. So why does it take 3 seconds to go from Ney York to Washington DC? There’s something wrong with that math. I don’t think NY and Washington are actually 900 million miles apart. I don’t buy for a second that CNN hasn’t been able to solve this technical conundrum. I think it’s purposeful. There’s just no way they are that technically incompetent.
In fact I think they are actually somehow manipulating space-time for some nefarious purpose designed to eventually control the Universe. At least that’s the sense I get when I look into Wolf Blitzer’s beady little eyes.
mal•a•prop n. - the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
Example: You need an altitude adjustment, you’re too self-defecating.”
---------------------------------------------------
prop•o•si•tion (prp-zshn) n.
1. A Subject for discussion or analysis.
2. A statement that affirms or denies something.
Example: “I think you should go play a nice game of hide-and-go-fuck-yourself.”
Thursday, February 7, 2008
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5 comments:
If you really want to know, I know why. :)
here. http://www.satsig.net/latency.htm
Thanks Mike, but that doesn;t actually answer any questions.
So if the typical distance for a signal to travel at the speed of light is around 80,000 miles up to a satellite and back down (taking into account the angle of signal and distance from the equator), then we’re talking around 280 milliseconds there and back or 140 MS for a one way trip. That’s .00140 seconds. Right?
Now let’s say that CNN is all fucked up and inefficient and they have to beam that signal up to a satellite, and back down to earth, then back up to another satellite, then over to a third satellite a similarly long distance away and then back down to earth. Not likely, but let’s assume that. That’s 6 trips. So we’re looking at .00140 * 6 = .0084 seconds… so about eight one thousandths of a second--which is really about six one thousandths of a second too long because really they can’t possibly be that fucked up.
So it’s not travel time for the signal here, it’s something else. It’s processing the signal and distributing it through cables and computers and shit like that. I simply refuse to believe they don’t have the necessary technology to fix that problem.
They’re hiding something.
You're killin me.
280ms = .28s = round trip = 1 hop
So that is the time is takes for CNN dude1 to send his message to CNN dude2.
ALSO:
It then takes that same time for CNN dude2 to send his message back to CNN dude1.
.28s x 2 = .56s
So let's say that CNN is all fucked up and they need to perform a triple hop.
that would be .56s x 3 = 1.68s
and then yes, you need to factor in time for the data to run through land line cables for each station. even if that is as little as .32s total we have
1.68s + .32s = 2s
Which does seem like an eternity when we are used to people talking and hearing each other instantly.
I'm going to go call verizon now ;)
Don't forget about switching equipment. You can't go from satelite to fibre to cable without switching, laser head ends, signal conversion, etc. Just the signal conversaion alone can bring in a lot of latency, which is why they run those big fibre lines across the bottom of the ocean.
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